Fire that damaged room at inn in Bar Harbor under investigation

BAR HARBOR, Maine — A fire Wednesday at a local waterfront inn that damaged a guest bathroom has been referred to law enforcement officials for investigation, according to a fire department official.

According to Capt. Jay Higgins of the Bar Harbor Fire Department, the fire at the Balance Rock Inn was reported a few minutes before noon on Wednesday by people who were inside the inn getting it ready for the upcoming tourist season. Higgins declined to go into detail about the blaze, other than to say it was confined to a guest bathroom on the second floor and was extinguished by the inn’s sprinkler system before firefighters arrived. No injuries were reported.

Higgins indicated that all other questions about how the fire may have started should be directed to the local police department or the State Fire Marshal’s Office. Attempts to contact investigators with those departments on Thursday were not immediately successful.

Higgins said an investigator with the State Fire Marshal’s Office arrived at the scene of the fire on Wednesday afternoon.

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Higgins said the guestroom off the bathroom where the fire occurred faces the shore and that firefighters opened up one of the walls to make sure the fire was outl. He said about 10 firefighters were at the inn for about an hour before they decided it was safe to leave.

An employee at the inn contacted Thursday by phone said that the inn still is expected to open as scheduled on Friday, May 17. He referred other questions to investigators.